It's been a west Macon staple for 20 years. Now it's set to close

The O'Charley's restaurant in Macon is expected to close at the end of business on Sunday, its manager said Thursday.

"It's just the business location," Shalee Horton said. "We weren't doing enough in sales and everything."

The business opened at 3740 Bloomfield Road, next to Macon Mall, 20 years ago, and Horton has been working there 19 years.

"It was devastating at first," Horton said after she and the other 50 employees were told Saturday about the imminent closure. "We're all sad about it."

Workers are being offered severance packages and opportunities to transfer to other restaurants. The closest O'Charley's to Macon is in Centerville.

The restaurant has been seeing a decline in business "for a while," she said, adding that it's tied to business at the mall.

"Back when it was booming, we were booming," she said. "The mall started to decline and you know, so did we."

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 12:06 PM with the headline "It's been a west Macon staple for 20 years. Now it's set to close."